“The Dakota Combo wasn't just about teaching or playing jazz (which I learned as well) but learning about the subtleties, etiquette, and life lessons that go into being a musician.”  – Carson King-Fournier, trombone 
 

The Dakota Combo, first rehearsal©Andrea Canter

During the first year of the program, the students, all from the Twin Cities area, rehearsed twice per month through November, the semester project culminating in rehearsal and performance at the Dakota Jazz Club with nationally acclaimed saxophonist Bobby Watson. The following year, the program expanded to the full school year and included visits to area schools and performances at MacPhail and the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, along with a weekend with guest artist Delfeayo Marsalis, again at the Dakota Jazz Club. During the third year, the Combo included students from as far away as Willmar and Northfield. The band performed at the Dakota with Irvin Mayfield, at the Minnesota Music Educators Convention, at three area schools, at MacPhail, and at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival. And in late May, they spent a day at Matt Zimmerman’s Wild Sound Studios in northeast Minneapolis, making a recording of all original music contributed by Rossum and by each of the seven members of the Combo.

In the Studio With the Dakota Combo

Making a recording, funded by the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education and supported by in-kind donations, was Rossum’s recommended addition to the program for 2009. “The discipline and experience gained from a CD recording process is an extraordinarily rare activity for high school musicians,” noted Rossum. “To have the students perform in an actual recording studio, under the pressure of the clock and their peers, while recording their own original music, is an experience they will never forget.”  

Tony Pistilli, Cory Grindberg and Ryan Freitas at the 2009 Twin Cities Jazz Festival©Andrea Canter

How much work goes into a recording was one lesson everyone seemed to learn quickly! Noted trumpeter Jake Baldwin (Minnetonka High School), “This session really taught me what   professionals go through to make the recordings that I listen to everyday... It makes you respect the great jazz musicians of the past and present for being able to do that so easily.” For Bassist Cory Grindberg (Minneapolis South High School), the recording experience “showed me how much preparation is required before we actually step into the studio, and how it can be a very tiring process to play a whole CD, and do multiple takes for multiple songs... A career as a musician is going to yield many hours in the studio for various things, and knowing how to correctly approach a recording session and make it go as well as possible is essential.” 

Pianist Joe Strachan (Northfield High School) was impressed by the expectations for professionalism once he stepped into the studio. “Being in the studio with a professional, who expected the members of the band to act professionally, was extremely helpful. You don't learn about that kind of stuff in any music classes! That's an experience that I can take and go,

‘OK, that's how I want my bands to work in the studio.’ It is a priceless experience for a young musician to see how things work in the real world.” 

The Combo musicians found some significant differences between live performance and making a studio recording, and sometimes it was challenging, particularly getting accustomed to playing in isolation.  For Ryan, “It was frustrating to not be able to see everybody during the session. I really like eye contact!” Adds Jake, “With a live concert you have the band all on one stage in one room and there is a bunch of interaction. In the studio we were all in separate rooms and had to rely solely on our ears to try and recreate the passion and energy of a live performance.” Trombonist Carson King-Fournier (Apple Valley High School) also found it initially frustrating to rely on the sound in his headphones. “I really had to get used to the isolation-room thing. Hearing through headphones was interesting, and more difficult than I thought...” Tenor saxophonist Tony Pistilli (Providence Academy in Wayzata) agreed: “I spent a lot of time fooling around with the sound that was coming into my headphones, figuring out that I didn't necessarily need to have any of the horns playing in my headphones, since they were right next to me. It was also difficult to communicate with each other when we were in different rooms and couldn't say a word, but by the end of it we figured it out well.”  

“The amount of focus needed throughout the entire recording session was grueling,” noted Carson, and Jake added that “Every mistake made in the studio was a mental one. If you lose focus for even a few seconds, you get lost and then all of the sudden a great take of a tune turns into a train wreck.” 

Perhaps one of the most common reactions among the septet was the importance of preparation. Ryan was surprised “how prepared everybody had to be to make it happen. If you didn’t know what was happening, it wasted everybody's time to go back and try it again. I definitely slowed down the process because I wasn’t quite as prepared as I should've been!” For some, preparation involved training akin to an athlete before a big race. “A recording session for a trumpeter is like running a marathon,” said Jake. “It's all about endurance. So I just made sure that I warmed up for about an hour everyday the week before and got plenty of sleep and water. I also prepared myself mentally by playing through the tunes and not allowing myself to make any mistakes. If I did make one I would start it over and keep playing until i got it right because the less takes you take, the more you conserve your chops.”  

Carson King-Fournier at Wild Sound©Andrea Canter

The other graduating seniors also felt the added time crunch of a springtime recording session. Joe recalled that “it was a crazy weekend right before it, with all the school year activities wrapping up...I did some Hanon exercises the day of [the recording] and had some extra brown sugar on my oatmeal.” Noted Tony, “I wish I would have had more time to practice before the session, but it was sandwiched between AP tests and finals.  I would have spent more time working on my tone... Individually we spent a lot more time planning out our tunes.  If we were playing live we would have been more comfortable with 4 measures of confused sound due to miscommunication.  As it was, even with our rigid measure by measure plans, we weren't always happy with what happened.” For Cory, that drive for perfection meant preparing “relentlessly by playing the tunes as much as possible, and having them as memorized as possible.  There is much less room for error on a recording session.  All the heads (melodies) had to be as perfect as possible, and we basically had to know the tunes as well as possible, as to not mess them up.”  

Not tied up with graduation duties, Cam’s preparation was more mental, thinking about how to support his fellow musicians. “The biggest mental preparation I made for the CD was to always support the song and the musicians behind it. I’m still striving (and always will be) to make everybody else in the ensemble sound great. In the recording situation, I attempted to make my playing a bit simpler in order to make the tracks feel better. I took special pains in both “Ataxia” and “User Error” to really be a strong foundation in the track rather than to display my own playing.” Ryan specifically considered preparing for the additional technology of the session: “I practiced playing with one headphone over my ear so I knew what I would sound like during the session. It was a little funky, but I got used to it.” 

One of the benefits of an early experience was the freedom to make mistakes. Observed Tony, “I realized that you don't have to be frightened of recording...In many ways the Dakota Combo allows us to make mistakes and figure out stuff now so that we don't have to make them again.” 

The Compositions

Joe Strachan focused on the recording playback©Andrea Canter

The CD opens with Joe Strachan’s tune, “That Waitress Digs You, Isaac,” which was “inspired by a waitress at Bryant Lake Bowl who kept on bumping into my good friend, Isaac Zuckerman...I took some stuff we had been looking at in [bassist/educator] Adam Linz's theory class at MITY [Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth jazz camp] and kind of just tried to incorporate it in a song. It was more of an exercise that I figured out in about 20 minutes that I gave a funny title to. We played that song for the rest of our Bryant Lake Bowl gigs, often with the Isaac Zuckerman Quartet, and the Dakota Combo. My main feeling recording it was a sense of relief; I thought I would never have to play it again (or at least for a while).”  

When I started this track on my car stereo, my friend first guessed it was the SFJazz Collective. While the Dakota Combo can hardly be compared to that virtuoso octet, the energy and beefy hornlines suggest a more mature ensemble.  Ryan takes the first twisty solo on alto, followed by Cory’s bouncy bass (maybe suggesting a gutter ball banging along the side of a lane at Bryant Lake Bowl?). Joe’s subtle piano serves as the glue connecting solos, building the intensity toward Cam’s increasingly frenetic drums over the piano vamp. The horns come back with expanded voicings, and particularly there’s some slithery squeals from Jake and Carson. 

Jake Baldwin at the spring concert at MacPhail©Andrea Canter

Joe and Cam introduce the full ensemble, the harmonies rich with a slightly sharp edge. Jake gives himself some nifty opportunities to strut his stuff, melodically and stylistically, and Cam gives it a nice touch of funk with his assertive two-beat. Listen closely and you’ll hear Carson’s trombone and Corey’s electric bass gurgling with delight. Jake dukes it out against the other horns before the ensemble falls back in line. 

Cameron LeCrone wrote “JB,” which he describes as “just a simple blues line that I had composed on bass guitar (which I play as a secondary instrument).  Kelly had encouraged everybody to contribute a composition to the group, so I put my ideas down on paper and brought it in to rehearsal.  During the recording process, I felt as though my song represented my vision as a fairly straightforward blues piece. I’m excited to see how it came out on the finished product.”  

Cameron LeCrone in an isolation booth at Wild Sound©Andrea Canter

Of his “Winnipeg Mambo,” Carson King-Fournier explains that he “was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada, eh?) so I thought I would glorify my hometown as much as possible. The tune was a complete fluke . . . it is my first composition. My reasoning for the title was since I can't write music, and Winnipeggers can't Mambo, the two would go together quite nicely.” 

Joe doubles on congas and Kelly makes a guest appearance on cowbell, adding the feel of the tropics, while the antics of the horns belie this composition as a maiden voyage for Carson. It’s all over in little more than one delightful minute, hardly enough time to lace up the dancing shoes. 

Tony Pistilli’s “Sent From Aaker” is “about a history teacher of mine whose fiancé became a nun.  I didn't spend a whole lot of time planning out how to relay some sort of story with my tune.  I actually wrote it one afternoon shortly before rehearsal.”   

After an initial passage suggesting a Middle Eastern retreat, there’s reference to a future vamp. Cam’s mallets deliver some resonant thunder to support Tony’s whiney, wiley tenor solo, and now the vamp rises to the top with Ryan swirling on soprano. As mournful melody and harmonies seem to vibrate from the Old World, Joe’s acoustic piano solo conjures the high end of a Fender Rhodes, and it all fades into darkness. 

Kelly Rossum with saxophonists Ryan Freitas and Tony Pistilli at Wild Sound©Andrea Canter

“DC Theme” opens with a short phrase from Joe, followed by the dissonant horn theme. There’s a swinging undertow, due particularly to Joe’s phrasing, Cory’s acoustic bass lines, and splashes from Cam. Tony untangles the melody first, followed by Jake, whose trumpet slices through the chart like a fine-edged knife wielded by an agile Benihana chef. Similarly, Joe’s improvised solo is both subtle and assertive, and a fine forum to enjoy his mature voicings and sense of swing. The full ensemble recapitulates the opening theme with a tight finish.  

One of the most frequently played tunes during the Combo’s live performances this year was Cory Grindberg’s “Faded,” a tour de force for trombone, although when Carson couldn’t make the gig at the MMEA conference, Jake proved it worked equally well on trumpet. “My tune was just something I came up with last year in my high school band director's office,” he said.  “It sounded good to me.  I feel like we did it justice.  And it's a good feeling to have.”  

Carson opens with the sinister melody. In response to the full ensemble’s commentary, he counters with eerie groans suggesting the soundtrack to the Addams Family. Cory’s own solo conjures creaking doors and dark basements, but it’s the trombone that is truly scary here... or maybe it is just the talent behind the menagerie of sound that is truly terrifying.  The outchorus is a highpoint of the recording, each instrument adding just the right touch to set hairs on end, the last word from the trombone “fading” into night. 

Ryan Freitas, who won a composition award at the MMEA Conference for a different tune, contributed “Ataxia.” He notes that “the inspiration actually came when a book fell on my keyboard. I liked the sound of the chord, so I took the notes and made a hook out of them. The groove kind of fell into place...I was going for a more rhythmic approach; a 'groove tune' if you will. When I did the bridge, I wanted to take the hook I had used before and manipulate it to keep the listener's head spinning. Ataxia is a disorder where you experience episodes of vertigo and lose your sense of balance. Rhythmically, that's what I wanted to do.” 

Cory’s bass sets the jagged pace, with Jake’s muted trumpet and Joe’s repeating lines leading into Ryan’s tipsy alto solo. Cam sought to provide a strong foundation here and he succeeds in setting a deep groove, while the horns keep it intentionally off balance. 

Kelly Rossum, known throughout the Twin Cities and beyond as not only an accomplished trumpeter but an inventive improviser and composer, contributed the final track, “Majestic Mighty Monarch of the Air,” from his debut recording (Party’s Over/Begun), which the Combo played throughout their year of performances. 

A complex tune of shifting rhythms features first Ryan on tenor (he’s adept on at least three horns!), covering a wide swath of sax. Having demonstrated the range of sound from a trombone on “Faded,” here Carson demonstrates the horn’s dexterity. Cory similarly covers the range of his instrument while adding to the rhythmic mayhem, while Cam piles on layers of percussion. The ensemble blows through the herky jerky final passage with a triumphant finish. 

Back to the Future

The hornline at sound check©Andrea Canter

As for the Combo students, they hope to follow in the footsteps of previous Combo alumni, who have gone on to such prestigious programs as the Brubeck Institute, Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory of Music, New School, Indiana University, William Patterson College of New Jersey, and Stanford. Their destinations are varied with one thing in common—a respected program of jazz studies:

• Jake Baldwin – New England Conservatory of Music
• Ryan Freitas – Michigan State University
• Cory Grindberg – Northwestern University
• Carson King-Fournier – Juilliard Conservatory
• Tony Pistilli – University of Wisconsin Eau Claire
• Joe Strachan – Lawrence University Conservatory

And Cameron LeCrone? He has another year at Minnetonka High School. But you can be sure he’ll be at the Dakota Combo Auditions for 2009-2010. No matter what happens next, the young drummer recognizes the amazing opportunities he’s already had with the Combo. “I really cannot thank Kelly enough for how much he has helped me grow musically in the past year.  His guidance at every rehearsal and performance was invaluable, and I learned so much from his little snippets of advice.  The other members of the group were also outstanding, and really pushed me to improve throughout the year. They also helped to expand my listening horizons, and I now find myself with a much more diverse taste in music than when the year began.” 

“This group is the reason I take jazz seriously. Because of Kelly and the people I have gotten the opportunity to play with, I have learned not only what it means to be a professional musician but it has also taught me what kind of person I want to be...These young men and women that I have played with have become not only my colleagues but also close friends and I would have to rank being in the Dakota Combo as one of the most important experiences in my musician career thus far.” – Jake Baldwin   
 

Combo Director Kelly Rossum led the Combo, produced the recording session and filled in as needed©Andrea Canter

Hear the Dakota Combo, along with Jazz Piano Scholarship winners Joe Strachan and Jacob Wittenberg, at a free “Student Showcase” on Peavy Plaza (adjacent to Orchestra Hall on Nicollet Mall and 11th Street in downtown Minneapolis) on Saturday, July 18th, 11:30 am – 2 pm. The Combo CD will be available free at the performance and at future Combo events.  

The auditions for the 2009-2010 edition of the Dakota Combo will take place on September 13th at MacPhail. For information, contact Adam Linz at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . The Dakota Combo is open to serious jazz musicians in grades 9–12. Rehearsals are held at MacPhail in downtown Minneapolis every other Thursday night throughout much of the school year, October – May. Stay tuned for the announcement of the next guest artist. 
 
 

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